ARRAY Releasing has added another film to their arsenal of narratives. Ava DuVernay‘s distribution arm of the game-changing collective has acquired Thyrone Tommy’s directorial debut, Learn To Swim.

ARRAY has acquired rights for the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand and will release the film on Netflix and select screens on August 15. The announcement was made today by Tilane Jones, President of ARRAY.

The jazz-centric romantic drama bowed at Toronto Film Festival in 2021. Co-written by Tommy and Marni Van Dyk and Learn To Swom dives into the world of contemporary jazz with a musical meditation on love and loss, following the doggedly private and talented saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and a vivacious, but less experienced singer named Selma (Emma Ferreira). When the two meet, sparks fly, but their respective emotional baggage and temperaments make the road to romance bumpy at best.

Learn To Swim was nominated for the DGC Discovery Award at the 2021 Directors Guild of Canada Awards and was included in TIFF’s Annual Top Ten list for 2021. The film also received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 and won the award for Best Original Song (“And Then We Don’t” by TiKA and Casey Manierka-Quaile).

“With ARRAY Releasing’s summer acquisition of Learn to Swim we are thrilled to highlight the lyrical directorial debut of Canadian filmmaker Thyrone Tommy. His award- winning film delivers a deeply felt story that addresses tragic loss, matters of the heart and the resilience of the human spirit,” said Jones.

Learn To Swim is produced by Alona Metzer. The acquisition was negotiated by Gordon Bobb of Del, Shaw, Moonves, Tanaka, Finkelstein, and Lezcano on behalf of ARRAY; and Derek Kigongo of APA, Ben Cowely of Goldenberg & Co on behalf of Learn To Swim.